I know, I know… I’ve been told before that no one finds dreams interesting. But since I’m the only one here: I was paddling a dragon-boat with Elizabeth Bear. We went around a lagoon for a while and then braved an open channel, where we capsized, but quickly recovered. When we returned to the dock, we adjourned to a barracks, where we did pushups with a number of other people. A skinny, pale man with no legs was doing handstand-pushups, with amazing balance. A young, dark, bearded man instructed me on a better placement for my hands when doing tricep-pushups. Finally I was resting and I said to Bear, “All this exercise is great, but this doesn’t seem like a regular gym; what are we here for, anyway?” She said, “Viking school!” I am, as you can see, immensely charmed with the idea of Viking school, and would like to begin my instruction post-haste. […]
More from the pillow-book
Silences: the many kinds thereof. The silence that follows an awkward pronouncement. The silence that follows love. The silence of the city when all the power is out. The silence of the country when the weather is still. The silence under water. The silence between stars. The silence of a lover injured. The silence of a child asleep. The silence that follows a great gun. […]
In which the night is sweet
It is, you know. Sweet and spicy and warmer than the day was. My cat won’t come inside. I will be meeting with my writing group in a couple of weeks. So that I don’t show up pantsless, I need to take an inventory: Short stories accepted for publication:“The Tongue of Bees” On submission:“The Duellist, After Her Prime” First drafts complete:“Who in Mortal Chains” Back to the drawing board:“Bleaker Collegiate Presents an All Female Production of Waiting for Godot“ First drafts in progress:“A Sovereign Cure for Pneumonia”“The King of Bramble Heights”“Forty-Nine Days in the Intermediate States, with Extracts from the Great Liberation by Hearing”The talking fish story“Seven Postcards from the Garden of Earthly Delights”“Rush Lane” Novel progress:Not-a-Werewolf: halfway through Chapter 5 of what I believe is partial draft 10Dickensian Fantasy: Chapter 10 of Draft 4 (7 more chapters to go) If only I felt more like writing. At the moment, after a rather grueling week of looking at the books of others, I only feel like masticating potato chips in front of some Criminal Minds. In other excellent news, though, I will shortly begin reading slush for Ideomancer. […]